Bengaluru, March 22 -- BJP leaders criticised the Congress Government in Karnataka after 18 of its MLAs were suspended for 6 months and forcibly removed from the Assembly.

The BJP alleged that the suspension was an attempt to suppress their opposition to the Government's decision to grant 4 percent Muslim reservation in Government tenders and their demand for an inquiry into an alleged honey trap scandal.

BJP Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla condemned the move, stating, "Eighteen BJP MLAs were forcibly removed from the Karnataka Assembly by Marshals, carried out on their shoulders and suspended for six months. They will not even be able to participate in meetings. It is a murder of democracy."

BJP Karnataka President B.Y. Vijayendra que...